The Bull

Combine ingredients in a glass and serve. You can pack the glass with ice, which makes it nice and cold for a hot summer day. You can also garnish with a lime, which I’m all out of because I made my family Mojito’s yesterday.

Some days I like an ice cold beer. It is easy to make, especially when it is a twist top. Most of the beer I stock is microbrew, because I like flavour. After I came home today, I went to the fridge and popped the top off of a J.R. Brickman Pilsner and headed to the computer to read my email, news and the usual list of cocktail blogs I frequent. Then it occurred to me that it was Mixology Monday, because everyone is posting about Tequila. I didn't want to waste my beer, so I Googled “beer and tequila cocktail”. Voila, a drink that combines beer and tequila called The Bull.

The Bull is not to be confused with other tequila cocktails, like the Brave Bull, Bull Rider, Big Bull, Joyful Bull, White Bull or the Raging Bull. For the most part all of those Bull cocktails are Kahlua and Tequila variations.

The Bull is a simple mixture of Tequila, Beer and Sprite (or 7–Up or Lemonade if you live across the pond). There is also a similar drink called The Submarine or the Desperado, which are just variations of The Bull.

For this cocktail I used Don Eduardo Blanco tequila which has a wonderful aroma and flavour. A good crisp beer, like a pilsner or cerveza work best as their flavour is relatively mild and allows the tequila to shine through. As for the Sprite, it's included to add sweetness and a bit of citrus flavour.

This drink surprised me, I liked it. When I first saw the recipe it seemed like an unlikely combination, but in the end it works. The Bull almost has a fruity quality to the flavour, but not quite. It is very refreshing flavour-wise, but you have to watch out, because it packs a kick. Well it packs a kick if you made it in the traditional way using 1/4 pint of tequila. In my case I used 2oz of Don Eduardo, 4 oz of beer and 2 oz Sprite.

In a moment of curiosity I added a a small amount of Bols Vanilla to the remaining half of The Bull and it tasted pretty good. Why? Because the bottle was sitting on my desk and as the curious type I wanted to see what it tasted like. Tequila, beer and vanilla seems like an unlikely combination, but it works and if I had a squeeze of lime I could drink these all day on a warm beach.

So next time you want to impress your friends while sitting on a patio, in the middle of summer, order The Bull. And head on over to My Bar, Your Bar to check out the Mixology Monday round up.